I am halfway through my Social Media Challenge. Cool.

I really didn’t think that I could do it. I told myself that I could but it truly was an exercise in what Doug always says “fake it until you make it.” That expression doesn’t always work, but surprisingly it works more than you think.

I am not talking about becoming someone who is false and who goes around telling people that they are something different than they really are. I am talking about positive self talk. The most important person to convince that you actually can achieve what you set out to achieve is YOU. You will always have people who will say one thing to your face and then turn around and say the opposite to other people. So what! That is not your problem. Really, it’s not.

Fake it until you make it really refers to your own self talk. There have been some recent studies done that confirm that your brain will believe what it is told most, even if it is not true. In a post I published recently, Laugh and Lighten Up, I told you that your brain, although brilliant, can’t tell the difference between a real smile and a fake one. Your brain simply receives the knowledge that your face looks happy, therefore, ‘we’ are happy. So why not take that process one step farther.

• Behave the way you want to be treated.
  If you wanted to be treated with respect, then be respectful.
• Walk with confidence.
  People can’t see if you are trembling inside.
• Smile.
  A happy person is always the kind of person people want to be around.
• Listen to what other people are actually telling you.
  First of all, you will learn so much more than if you are the one yapping all the time, but also people want to spend more time with you because you are a good listener. Then when you have something to offer, they are more likely to listen to you.
• Be a constant learner.
  Watch podcasts, read books, watch training videos, whatever triggers your mind. By being a constant learner you become way more interesting.
• Be genuine.
  To me this is the most important. You need to be true to yourself, your ‘fake it until you make it’ attitude is just you, only better.

If I had given in to my tendency to doubt my ability that I could do this challenge, I would not be here, halfway through and loving it. It would still be two weeks later and I would be wondering if I could even have finished. So, I will push on. Write about what interests me and hopefully interests you and in just two more weeks, I will say I tried, and I conquered my first Social Media Challenge.

You can't fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal. – William S. Burroughs